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In the midwinter, a devil suddenly appears in a city. His ambition is to destroy all humans. The main character is Kyosuke. He is a high school student and enjoys his school life with Tsubaki, Kanon, and Eiichi. But one day, rich students go missing one by one.... When they are at a loss what to do, a girl with beautiful long hair appears in front of them. Her name is Haru. She is the girl he met ten years ago.... A deadly pure-love drama now begins....

My synopsis. It's better than Himeyashop's:

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You play the role of Asai Kyosuke, the son of a legendary gangster infamous in the underworld. You spend your time listening to Bach, playing God at school and covertly working for your stepfather, a ruthless financial heavyweight. This idyllic existence is broken when two individuals appear in the city - a beautiful girl from your past named Usami Haru with hair you could get lost in for days, and a powerful international gangster known only as Maou. Almost without delay, the two begin a deadly cat-and-mouse game, bringing you and your friends into the crossfire. Plotting, political intrigue and layer upon layer of interlocking traps are the weapons in this epic battle of wits.

tl;dr

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Think of Maou and Usami as Kira and L, only they're both far more awesome than their respective counterpart. The other heroines aren't mere shallow pretty faces, either: even the character that seemed most likely to be guilty of that (Miwa Tsubaki) has already shown that there is a great deal of depth to her character in the second demo. In addition, the protagonist is as developed a character as anyone else, being written by a scenario writer known for strong, badass protagonists (Syarin no Kuni, A Profile etc.).

Had been waiting for this for a very long time, I really can't wait to finally be able to play it.
I really loved Syarin so I really hope it won't disappoint, though I doubt it will seeing the demo.
Now to wait till I receive it.

I've just finished this VN... and seriously, the only sad thing is the fact it seems it is under the radars of the english community >_<

As you probably figured out, I really enjoyed G senjou no maou.
I'm usually very picky, and this eroge sure has its share of flaws. That said, these are not something to care much about, because it is damn awesome (and i'm rarely that enthusiast).

Visual wise, the VN is quite solid and each character have tons of sprites and colorful expressions. Very nice and they cover a large pattern of expressions.
As for the CG, I would however complain a bit that some of them are a bit overdone (those who finished the game will understand if I mention the "3 girls" plea in the epilogue) or underwhelming, others are unbalanced in proportions (especially the cheeks. See some of Yuki's and Haru's).
The backgrounds are basic, though some details are extremely lacking (all of them are absolutely void of figurant characters).

Sound: It is plain amazing. I never thought classics would work that well with that kind of plot. What's more amazing is the well done remixes of infamous masterpieces such like Bach's "Air on G string" (principal track of the game, hence why the title), Wagner's "The ride of the valkyries", Beethoven's "For Elise", etc etc.
They fit the scenes and they certainly keep the legacy of their original counterpart (some are remixed in a genius way, such like "For Elise").

Seiyuu: First point: ZERO!!
As for those who don't know yet, Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch/Zero seiyuu in Code Geass, Lawrence's in Spice and Wolf) is voicing the main Antagonist, Maou. And trust me, he is using his sexy voice (though not as theatral as Lelouch's, obviously ).
That aside, haru's voice is very nice: lovely and very quirky. I often have Konata from Lucky Star in my mind during some her of mumbling
The rest of the characters are well fitted (except maybe some few general old men voices), though I think Kanon's voice will be simply "hit or miss", depending of the readers. As for me, I'm just a bit disturbed that Koorogi Satomi sounds a bit too young, hence she reminds me WAY too much of her other roles, especially Ushio from Clannad.
Plot: well this is the main dish.
I think the usual rave "Death Note on steroids" isn't a random claim. Even though some stunts aren't as spectacular as in Obhata's manga, G senjou twists and various elements are marvelous. It is really a entertaining and addicting plot, as the story doesn't rely on its "bishoujou".
Characters wise, they are colorful and all of them have consequent depth, even for the "mere moeblobs" as people would expect of Kanon and Tsubaki.
That said, the most controversial point would be Kyousuke, the protagonist: His demeanor and "double life" will certain drive many people in disgust (I will admit: I wasn't really liking him at all) and the lack of glimpse of his past doesn't help much either.
But unexpectedly, the many shades of grey, then white turns this horrible "anti hero" into a noble and solid protagonist, who will get through living hell before savoring a happy life.
That said, the game however made me raise an eyebrow on several cases, especially at Mizuha's route, as he almost went 'backward"... tch, Gonzou really tainted his mind.

As for the scenario, I would only complain the fact that the 3 non main heroines are unfortunately not on par with Haru: various points aren't as effective, and Kanon's route has quite big inconsistencies with the main plot. Though they are a bit underwhelming and lackluster in comparison to haru's, that doesn't make them demerit, as they give a though and merciless depiction of reality and "life drama". I was often surprised that some characters really acted as "human" and not cliché or "fiction" stoned.
That said, these are just judged on a bias light, as Haru's route is basically the Cake, the Icing and the Strawberry at the same time.
Not only her character is vastly gorgeous (in any way), but her story involving the main plot is simply a explosive cocktail of winning elements.
And even when the end seems to be good enough, Akabeiisoft did a very sly move and added an unexpected epilogue: very bitter, but still ends on a happy ending (thank goodness, I was raging "WTF?! that's unfair, c'mon !").

In overal, G senjou no Maou deserves its hype by a fair margin, well for me anyway: good looking, amazing soundtracks, the story lives on serious basis and it is simply delivering one of the best VN I could read so far.

I just hope that more people will notice this gem, as it is seriously deserving the attention of the english community.

As for those who have finished the game, I have some questions, as my japanese understanding is quite limited so...

Spoiler for Do NOT read this if you didn't finish the game:

Why Kyousuke is so attached to Asai Gonzou? I mean, he is hardly likable, albeit manly in some cases. The game shows well that Gonzou doesn't exactly sees him as a complete human being, and seriously have a very questional base of morale and such (well, what I would expect from a gryzzly like Yakuza boss? -__-)
Hence, i didn't get why Kyousuke was that relieved during Kanon's end chapter, nor emotional part at the sniping scene in Haru's route).
Seriously, if i'm not mistaken, Gonzou asked him to rape Kanon at the start... consumming and forcing soumission to "the woman"... I was really disgusted.

Also, what really happened between Mr. Usami and Mr. Samajima? I didn't exactly understood the gambling part, but Samajima collected a huge debt through co signing, then killed Mr. Usami and 3 other guys, right?

As for Yuki, during Mizuha's ROUTE (not chapter, hence when you choose Mizuha as the lover), who and why did she kill this "guy"? Was he the arsonist?
Even so, why didn't she claim revenge against the police prefect Shiratori? The huge difference between Mizaha's route and Mizuha's chapter (hence staying with haru) is kinda weird

My review isn't as unrelentingly positive as yours. I'll will say, however, that it is officially in the top 5 of all eroge of all time. But some key failures:

1. All the other girls' routes besides Haru's are unimpressive. Without Maou or Usami, the game would be nothing.

2. Artist is kind of sub-par. He's better than in Sayrin, but the art definately looks like it's a notch bellow the expectation level of such a anticipated title.

3. Tired mistake in the main story -- a lot of otherwise great stories make this damn error, and I wish writers would stop using it. It makes them look ameturish and alienates the reader. Sayrin had an awesome love-conqouers-all, emotionally satisfying good end.

This game is all about the detective action-drama between Maou and Usami, and when it's doing this it's a great game you can't miss. THis game officially settles the scenario writer into the top of the current industry writers. While not a legendary work of greatness nor does it quite deserve to be called a masterpiece, it is a clearly superior game that will be remembered as one of the media's finest.

1. All the other girls' routes besides Haru's are unimpressive. Without Maou or Usami, the game would be nothing.

Most likely, I believe the non main heroines scenario are just for sake of completeness.
It is nothing short but "what if", though even so, it is obviously lacking due the fact it isn't matching well the "Maou VS Haru" part, especially for Kanon's route which becomes quite weird (Haru going MIA, bomb issue etc).

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3. Tired mistake in the main story -- a lot of otherwise great stories make this damn error, and I wish writers would stop using it. It makes them look ameturish and alienates the reader. Sayrin had an awesome love-conqouers-all, emotionally satisfying good end.

Maou's identity "reverse twist" ? Or are you talking of something else? The epilogue?

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This game is all about the detective action-drama between Maou and Usami, and when it's doing this it's a great game you can't miss. THis game officially settles the scenario writer into the top of the current industry writers. While not a legendary work of greatness nor does it quite deserve to be called a masterpiece, it is a clearly superior game that will be remembered as one of the media's finest.

Very true, though I think that the game, despite not solely focused on "characters" did a fair job with all characters in their development etc, even with the non main routes. For instance, Kyousuke's development and growth with Tsubaki was quite big.
On the other hand, Mizuha's route developped nicely the "sister" part, though I think Yuki's route would be fairly better... maa, I guess we can't have everything on a silver plate.

Although the reverse twist was pretty transparent and silly, I'm talking about how everyone has to be related to everyone else somehow. Why does everyone have to be some sort of childhood friend, half-parent or sibling? Sometimes it's warranted and it leads to a good story (Houdzuki and Ken from Sayrin for example). But making two characters related just for the sake upping the drama quotient is bad sory-telling; the excitement of two characters discovering each other is way more powerful than some made-up BS relationship.

I haven't played Tsubaki's route yet, but Kannon's was pure garbage.

Spoiler for Kanon's route:

The Maou was like "I fell in love, so I'm done, bye," and Usami was like: "The Maou went away so I'm taking off, later."

I'd have gladly traded a Mizuha route for a Yuki one -- but judging how much of an afterthought they seem to be it's probably not much of a loss.

I was hoping the Maou would have an evil team (like in a Kenshin manga or like in Monster) made up of especially powerful and disturbed killers, bu no, it's not going to be THAT great.

Although the reverse twist was pretty transparent and silly, I'm talking about how everyone has to be related to everyone else somehow. Why does everyone have to be some sort of childhood friend, half-parent or sibling? Sometimes it's warranted and it leads to a good story (Houdzuki and Ken from Sayrin for example). But making two characters related just for the sake upping the drama quotient is bad sory-telling; the excitement of two characters discovering each other is way more powerful than some made-up BS relationship.

Spoiler for relationship issue, end spoiler:

Well, depends. Personally, I liked the fact the game gave many hints and subtle reactions from Haru at the very start towards Kyousuke.

I think it would be really a problem if that was revealed early, but the relationship itself gave some depth in the interactions and it proved that the childhood part reinforced each other, not especially changing dramatically everything.

Ah well, I guess I'm biased on that part

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I haven't played Tsubaki's route yet, but Kannon's was pure garbage.

Spoiler for Kanon's route:

The Maou was like "I fell in love, so I'm done, bye," and Usami was like: "The Maou went away so I'm taking off, later."

I'd have gladly traded a Mizuha route for a Yuki one -- but judging how much of an afterthought they seem to be it's probably not much of a loss.

Exactly, I agree with issues from Kanon's route, that's what I mentioned in my review, though it was kinda too light
Indeed, it seems Kanon was most likely a early/scrapped scenario that they didn't polish enough, and quickly inserted in the game without much afterthough... That's unfortunate especially how it is conflicting so much with end revelations.

As for Yuki, I believe it would be tricky in the end, after I thought more about it: I would certainly dislike a "love soap" with Mizuha and Yuki going catfight on Kyousuke
That said, I think that Yuki was not fully explored, considering her potential, even with her case seen in chapter 4 (through haru's route).

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I was hoping the Maou would have an evil team (like in a Kenshin manga or like in Monster) made up of especially powerful and disturbed killers, bu no, it's not going to be THAT great.

Disappointed by Saijo as well, are you? ^^
Well, indeed, it would have been quite nice if Maou was a "Shishio" or "Enishi" from Kenshin, but thinking more about it, that would certainly be too much for Haru and Kyousuke, until some bizarre alliance with Gonzou etc would ensue.

But indeed, some themes would be much better if the scripters elaborated their ideas further.

I don't think we need to use a spoiler tag anymore, since it's already a month old. So I'll try to answer your questions:

Spoiler for end game spoiler!:

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Why Kyousuke is so attached to Asai Gonzou? I mean, he is hardly likable, albeit manly in some cases. The game shows well that Gonzou doesn't exactly sees him as a complete human being, and seriously have a very questional base of morale and such (well, what I would expect from a gryzzly like Yakuza boss? -__-)

IMO, even though Gonzo is not very likable as a human, he had always protected Kyousuke, like giving him chance to repay his debt (If you think about it, why would a Yakuza giving a little kid so much time to pay his debt? It would have been easier to mutilate him and sell his organs instead). So much of his attitude is basically comes from his origin as a Yakuza, where he must become a cold blooded person.

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Hence, i didn't get why Kyousuke was that relieved during Kanon's end chapter, nor emotional part at the sniping scene in Haru's route).
Seriously, if i'm not mistaken, Gonzou asked him to rape Kanon at the start... consumming and forcing soumission to "the woman"... I was really disgusted.

I don't really remember about Kanon's chapter, but the one who snipe Gonzo is Maou aka Kyohei. But the one who is going to go out from the car is Kyosuke, while Gonzo is inside the Taxi. So in other words, Gonzo protected Kyosuke from being sniped by Kyohei.

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Also, what really happened between Mr. Usami and Mr. Samajima? I didn't exactly understood the gambling part, but Samajima collected a huge debt through co signing, then killed Mr. Usami and 3 other guys, right?

What happened between Usami and Samejima is probably like this. Usami tricked Samejima Toshikazu through co-signing with one of his friends. But before this comes to light, Usami gives another loan to Toshikatsu for Kyomi's operating costs. They're not really gambling, just mahjong friends. Because Usami swindle him, when he against it inside the company, Usami said that it was all Toshikatsu's fault, he himself had no hands in it. When Toshikatsu finds out that even the loan for Kyomi's operation is not for free, and the tears Usami shed when the funeral time is fake, he snaps out and kill them all.

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As for Yuki, during Mizuha's ROUTE (not chapter, hence when you choose Mizuha as the lover), who and why did she kill this "guy"? Was he the arsonist?
Even so, why didn't she claim revenge against the police prefect Shiratori? The huge difference between Mizaha's route and Mizuha's chapter (hence staying with haru) is kinda weird

Katakura is the one sent by her father to steal the secret accounting book from her house. But it appears he accidentally burns the whole house instead. As to why Yuki didn't kill her father, maybe because the kidnapping plan failed, and Kyosuke agreed to love Mizuha, she gives up revenging against her father, worrying that it would saddens Mizuha even further that herself is going to disappear for a long time after killing Katakura.

The whole plot might be totally reserved for Haru alone, so the other heroine is not getting enough spotlight. Especially because if Kyosuke going into one of the three heroine's route, Maou is magically disappear into the thin air. The only rational explanation for that is if Kyosuke is really Maou, but since it's overruled, then the rationality is jumbled away.

Even though Mizuha's route is the most unrelated to the main plot (as to reverse if we just going through not calling the police, thus initiating the complete kidnapping plot), I love her the most, you could say it was love at the first sight (How much further I will fail as a human, falling in love with 2D character.. orz Guess I had a thing or two for light-colored hair girls, not blonde FYI). You could see that even I changed my signature for that purpose.. Perhaps if they followed the whole kidnapping plot then going through her route, it would come out for the better, since it would make her relation to the main plot even much tighter. Her unheard confession in the epilogue is sad too, since Kyosuke imagines what would happened if they know each other much earlier before the whole tragedy starts.

That really is a sly epilogue. But it's the best part of the whole story, since I think even Haru's route isn't that much great, but the epilogue is certainly superior. It's kinda weird that when we skip Tsubaki route, the story cools down before advancing to the next chapter, but when we skip both Kanon and Mizuha's routes, the situation escalates for the worse . This is why Kanon and Mizuha is receiving less love, because their story would became much more interesting if the escalation is done within their routes, as opposed when it's done outside their routes.

I don't think we need to use a spoiler tag anymore, since it's already a month old. So I'll try to answer your questions:

You say that, but I wouldn't expect it to be a bit dangerous... ah well, I may say that, but I'm playing ExE, a year too late... so

Spoiler for end game spoilers:

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IMO, even though Gonzo is not very likable as a human, he had always protected Kyousuke, like giving him chance to repay his debt (If you think about it, why would a Yakuza giving a little kid so much time to pay his debt? It would have been easier to mutilate him and sell his organs instead). So much of his attitude is basically comes from his origin as a Yakuza, where he must become a cold blooded person.

I don't really remember about Kanon's chapter, but the one who snipe Gonzo is Maou aka Kyohei. But the one who is going to go out from the car is Kyosuke, while Gonzo is inside the Taxi. So in other words, Gonzo protected Kyosuke from being sniped by Kyohei.

That's the only reasoning I could get, though the writing was kinda clumsy at times: sometimes, Gonzo was portrayed as a "manly yakuza who has to keep a mask", which is revealed in some cases (such like Tsubaki's route). However, on other parts, Gonzo was doing the "baddy" with glee, especially in Kanon's route (ruining her mother's life, asking Kyousuke to rape her etc).

I didn't have much trouble to understand that Kyouhei sniped Gonzo, but the whole reasoning was kinda out of my reach: Somehow, the way how Gonzo was sniped was a bit too obvious: Kyouhei was aiming at hm, and Gonzo knew it, yet he exposed himself like a sitting duck. Ah well... I guess some bias from my part, but that character didn't have any slight redeem quality except rare scenes, while ironically, I don't feel particularly disgusted by Kyouhei

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Katakura is the one sent by her father to steal the secret accounting book from her house. But it appears he accidentally burns the whole house instead. As to why Yuki didn't kill her father, maybe because the kidnapping plan failed, and Kyosuke agreed to love Mizuha, she gives up revenging against her father, worrying that it would saddens Mizuha even further that herself is going to disappear for a long time after killing Katakura.

I feel it would be rather the opposite: considering how Mizuha is dragged everywhere in haru's route, it would be more devastating for her to lose her father, while in her route, Kyousuke would be there to support her.
That's why I was wondering why such drastic change, because the situations seem to be reversed in term of opportunity: conveniently enough, Mizuha is a bit "stronger" in Haru's route.

Ah well, thanks for your explanations, that was really helpful

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The whole plot might be totally reserved for Haru alone, so the other heroine is not getting enough spotlight. Especially because if Kyosuke going into one of the three heroine's route, Maou is magically disappear into the thin air. The only rational explanation for that is if Kyosuke is really Maou, but since it's overruled, then the rationality is jumbled away.

It can't be helped, but it really looks like the scripters digged their hole a bit too deeply, and as they realize that Kyousuke = Maou would be a difficult formula, they scrapped the end, without changing much the rest. As it might be "normal" for Tsubaki's route, indeed, with kanon (especially that one) and Mizuha, it is just sinking like the titanic. Not a trainwreck, but really something you can overlook without any guilty regret.

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That really is a sly epilogue. But it's the best part of the whole story, since I think even Haru's route isn't that much great, but the epilogue is certainly superior. It's kinda weird that when we skip Tsubaki route, the story cools down before advancing to the next chapter, but when we skip both Kanon and Mizuha's routes, the situation escalates for the worse . This is why Kanon and Mizuha is receiving less love, because their story would became much more interesting if the escalation is done within their routes, as opposed when it's done outside their routes.

I concur: the pace and execution were slowed down by a good margin betweek Tsubaki and Haru route. At this point, it seems that it is kinda uneventful, until we reach Yuki's mad revenge.

But after thinking back to the characters backgrounds and profile, it seems there wasn't much way to do anything about these: unlike most VN, it is impossible to involve the girls in the main plot, except perhaps yuki (granted, she is the only one without any route, duh...). I would really boggle if any of the 3 others girl would chase Maou, until... well some SPECIAL conditions (such like another strike on Hiroaki, so Tsubaki going even more postal ).
in the end, I think the inconsistencies couldn't be avoided: as such, there isn't much room to involve everyone in the same boat.

ah well, it is fun to see such imbalance parts being able to outweight each other.

Messing with Tsubaki's mind anymore further would make even Gonzo kneel before her and call her "Anego!" , or even make a grander plan to foil Maou, by converting her diary into a Death Note or Future Diary. Yes I could see and hear it from a mile away..

I dare to say there is no need to worry about that too much.
The TL check is done by J->E to avoid the discrepancies with "multi-translating".

And anyway, in a sense "beggars can't be choosers", I'm happy someone is translating such an epic story, even if it's based on a translation already. I reckon, it's unlikely I'm going to experience a mistranslated crucial detail, which could prevent me to enjoy the english version. Not to mention that these lads are showing a remarkable speed to finish the full patch.

I think that even if the TL check is done by J-E, it is absolutely not foul proof. I personally think there is an obvious chance there will be missing subtilities etc, but since they are aware of this problem and that they are exposing it, there is no real worry about that.

I'm currently playing Mizuha's route for completion's sake -.-; Both this one and Tsubaki's were pretty dull but everyone says Haru's route is the main attraction so I'm sticking with it, lol.

Gonna try to grind through the rest of Mizuha's route tonight.

EDIT: OK, just beat the route.

I feel like they were running out of time when coming up with the script for Mizuha's route, the whole thing felt so rushed! I thought we'd get some more info. on Yuki but all that really happened was she disappeared and just "came back" one day. Not to mention Mizuha's change in personally felt really abrupt. I think I stared at the main menu for a good couple minutes after the route ended wondering if that's really all I'm getting, lol.